Hello, I hope someone may be able to help me. I am looking for a TEFL/TESOL ONLINE SCHOOL that has a good reputation.

There are many schools claiming to be the best that it is impossible for me to know the truth. I don't want to be scammed by a "school" that claims to be "accredited" and that guarantees a job overseas only to find out when it is too late that their claims were false or misleading. Many seem to be legit, but I have my doubts.

Can anyone make any recommendations about any ONLINE schools that has a good reputation internationally and that has a good record of placing TESOL/TEFL graduates overseas?

Checking posts on Forums is a good way to go about finding feedback on various courses.

You should also contact those course providers you like the sound of and ask for their course syllabus to compare it to others. Check their tutors’ credentials. Make sure the course requires some actual work on your part and it is not based on “Yes or No” answers or “Read This Unit and Summarize It” type of coursework. Try and find out what other students who have taken the course say about it. Basically do as much research as you can. There are quite a few good teacher training courses to choose from. It’s worth taking the time to look around.

There are also a few sites that track scams, dodgy schools and course providers. One of them is the TEFL Blacklist.

A good guideline on what a reputable online school is can be found from the British Council. Very few online schools meet such requirements and its best to check carefully who these schools are accredited with. Are the schools and their accreditors regognised by your prospective employers? click here:http://www.britishcouncil.org/types_eng ... eachuk.pdf

My experience with fellow teachers who have taken SIT courses has always been positive. I'm not sure, but I believe they have a strictly online course as well as on-site courses. My own experience with Serious Teacher is that it is not serious. My experience with ICAL is that it is well thought-out and individualized, but that I thought that my particular tutor didn't know how to teach (Her command of English content was okeh, but my dealings with her were turbulent. She did not explain her grading, and her comments on my work were cryptic to the point of opacity.)

I work for the TEFL Institute. We're internationally accredited and recognized and we offer a variety of courses that will fit your situation. We also offer lifetime job placement assistance to all of our alumni- all of our students who are actively looking for work get hired. I can send you some more information program if you'd like. You can email me here or at advisor36@teflinstitute.com

Hi Sammynyc - Your question is about online courses, but have you considered the teaching practice side of it? A lot of employers find it very important and in this regard I can strongly recommend OxbridgeTEFL.com. They have a good school with a recognised TEFL course and offer sponsorship for it in Spain. They offer around 16 hours of teaching practice with real students and a teacher from the school observing and monitoring you. You can check their website. There is an interview process which means just answering a few questions but they offer specific teacher training, a reduced price to do the course, a recognised certificate and the possibility of work if they have a position to fill. I would strongly recommend taking their course which is only for four weeks and gives you plenty of options of teaching afterwards. Rich

Last edited by Susan on Sat May 19, 2012 6:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason:To remove link

It is most important to investigate about accreditation of online course you want, how do you choose a good one and how does your employer know it's a good one? I would like to argue the case for external accreditation.

There's every chance your prospective TEFL employer will not have heard of the school you did your TEFL course with. Even the biggest online schools have little or no international reputation with most TEFL employers. How then does an employer satisfy themselves that your qualification has any merit and that you have the necessary methodology to conduct a class? I suggest the only way is for the qualification to come direct from an independent awarding body.

While there is wealth of online course providers, there are only 2 independent accrediting bodies that specialize in TESOL, have specific TESOL qualifying criteria that providers have to meet and award their own certificate upon successful completion of a TESOL course. These are:

The College of Teachers and ACTDEC

Both have set specific TESOL qualifying criteria and strict codes of conduct.

We're internationally accredited and recognized and we offer a variety of courses that will fit your situation. We also offer lifetime job placement assistance to all of our alumni- all of our students who are actively looking for work get hired.???

I got my <a href="https://www.uni-prep.com/tesol">TESOL certificate</a> 2 years ago from <a href="https://www.uni-prep.com/">UNI-Prep Institute</a> and I am currently employed as an English teacher here in South Korea. They provided me support and resources to be fully equipped as an English teacher, so I was hired immediately after I applied overseas. It was easy for me to take the course while working at that time because it was online study. I also recommended this program to my friends and they got hired as an English teacher in countries like Thailand and China. https://www.uni-prep.com/articles/

First of all look at the employment ads, and check what the employers are asking for. In many countries it is celta, or Trinity, online qualifications not accepted. If you find the CELTA inconvenient, and have some TESOL experience, try the Cambridge TKT test. It's a must that you have had a certain amount of peer observed classroom hours teaching experience.